


Apple of My Eye

by ruthvsreality



Category: Crooked Media RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:43:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23834398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruthvsreality/pseuds/ruthvsreality
Summary: A moment that bears fruit.
Relationships: Alyssa Mastromonaco/Dan Pfeiffer
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Apple of My Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Based on many many photos taken by Pete Souza of the big bowl of apples in President Obama’s office, often eaten by one Dan Pfeiffer.

When Alyssa finds Dan, he’s sitting on the floor in the bathroom of his hotel room, leaning his head against the cold white tile. His eyes are bright, his hair perfectly trimmed. His face is clean, if a little pale. He’s wearing the blue suit, the one that Jon had insisted on earlier in the day. Stressed, but well dressed.  
  
“How did you get in here?” He asks. Alyssa raises an eyebrow at him, leaning her backpack against the wall. (She doesn’t go anywhere without it anymore, not since the Debate Notes Incident back in October.)  
  
“It’s the Marriott, not the West Wing,” she replies. “Plus, people tend to keep tabs on you now. You’re precious cargo.”  
  
Dan breathes out a stream of air in lieu of laughter, leaning his head back against the wall. “Yeah. I’m like a faberge egg. Very important.”  
  
“And fragile,” Alyssa adds, moving to sit down next to him. She’s wearing a pleated skirt, the one she told Dan she’s had since high school. It’s supposed to bring them good luck, if only because _ I got lucky a lot in high school, ha ha. _ “How are you feeling?”  
  
Dan breathes in and out audibly. “Terrified.”  
  
“Of winning or losing?” 

“Both,” Dan admits. “If I win, my life will change forever from this point on. If I lose, then… all those people out there put their faith in me for nothing.”  
  
“They didn’t put their faith in you for _ nothing,” _ Alyssa counters gently. “They believed in you. They still believe in you. And if you win, your life will change, but you’re prepared for it. If you lose… the work continues, just in a different way.”  
  
Dan nods in agreement. “I guess I’m just nervous.”  
  
“It’s okay to be nervous. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to calm you down.”  
  
That earns her a quirk of his lips. “If you’re here to calm me down, we’re all in trouble,” he teases.  
  
“Why? Do I _ excite _you, Dan Pfeiffer?” Alyssa waggles her eyebrows lavisciously. 

“In the same way tornados excite me, yeah.”  
  
“Hey!” Alyssa nudges him playfully. “Be grateful, I could’ve sent Lovett here instead.”  
  
Dan winces. “I still need to apologize to him. I know I said sorry, but… it feels pretty weak considering how high the stakes are.”  
  
“You’ll send him a fruit basket or something when this is all over. Alternatively, you could just admit he was right.”  
  
Dan pulls his knees up to his chest. Alyssa can barely see the hint of a smile on his face. “I’ll put it in writing. He can have it framed and hang it in his office.”  
  
“A rare and valuable commodity,” Alyssa comments. "He'll get it bronzed."  
  
There’s silence for a moment. Dan fidgets, the shiny tips of his shoes glinting in the light. Alyssa’s phone buzzes in her pocket. She ignores it. 

“Do you want me to tell you voter turnout stats?” She asks. “Will that calm you down?”  
  
Dan scoffs, rolling his eyes. “ _ No.” _

“Do you… want me to call your mom?”  
  
“No, thank you,” Dan replies. Even sitting down, he’s much taller than her. “She’ll just come over and try to comfort me, and… I dunno, I’ll start crying, or something.” He shrugs. “Don’t want to go on camera with puffy eyes.”  
  
Alyssa hums in understanding. She looks around, gaze eventually settling on her backpack. “Do you… want a snack?”  
  
Dan stares at her. “A snack?”  
  
“Yeah, maybe your blood sugar’s low.” 

A pause. “... What do you have?” Dan asks.  
  
Alyssa opens her backpack and begins looking through it. “I have… a granola bar, a few loose espresso beans covered in chocolate, a water bottle, and an apple.” She whips her head up, her eyes wide behind her huge glasses. “Hey, you love apples!”  
  
Dan frowns at her. “I do?”  
  
“Sure you do.”  
  
“I wouldn’t say I _ love _ them…”  
  
“You were always eating them back at the White House.”  
  
“That’s because there was a big bowl of them in his office,” Dan responds, chuckling. “They were there, that’s why I ate them. As you know, I didn’t always remember to eat, and it was faster than using the vending machine. I wasn’t, like, an apple gourmet.”  
  
“Sure, but what about the time you turned to me and said, _ God, I love apples, _before taking a bite of one?” 

Dan grins despite himself. “I have no memory of saying that.”  
  
“It happened! Scout’s honor.” She does the girl scout salute. “You love apples. Your doctor must hate you.”  
  
Dan leans his head back, closing his eyes, smiling. “I’m very American,” he muses. “Love apple pie, and the flag, love the national pastime…”  
  
“Baseball's the national pastime.”  
  
“No, way more people watch basketball, and it can be played everywhere even the poorest communities. All you need is a hoop and a ball and you can make it to the NBA - way more American than baseball.”  
  
Alyssa nods in understanding. The two of them sit there in silence, listening to Alyssa’s phone buzz and buzz in her pocket.  
  
“I’m still terrified,” Dan confesses.  
  
Alyssa thinks for a moment. “Well…” She says slowly, “do you want a kiss?”  
  
Dan looks at her, a note of surprise in his expression. “Like, you and me?”  
  
“No, like you and Lovett, lemme just wrangle him in here - Yeah, like you and me.”  
  
Dan’s gaze softens, roaming over her features. For a second, she can see that he’s somewhere else, somewhere far away in time. “Like when we -”  
  
“Yeah, like that.” Alyssa nods. “Except this time we don’t have to worry about POTUS walking in on us.”  
  
Dan reaches up, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. They’re close, their knees touching. The way Dan’s looking at her, Alyssa could easily pretend the hard tile of the bathroom floor was soft linen, and the two of them were far, far away from here. 

“I have the same problem I had last time,” Dan murmurs. His voice is low, quiet. It’s a sharp contrast from the loud booming register he has in auditoriums and in front of crowds.  
  
Alyssa bites her lip, trying to recall. “What was the line? It was very good, very seductive - uh, once you start you won’t want to stop?” 

Dan shakes his head, amused. “It’s, ‘once I get one, I’ll want another, and another…’”  
  
He leans in a little, but Alyssa tilts her chin up. She needs to meet his eyes and make things clear.  
  
“You’ll have to be satisfied with one, I’m afraid,” she reminds him in a murmur. “Because depending on tonight’s outcome, I will be off-limits for a long, long time. Very forbidden fruit.”  
  
Dan closes his eyes and exhales, remembering. “Yeah,” he says finally. He lowers his head slightly, giving her a glimpse of his peach fuzz hair, now more grey than brown. “I wouldn’t have run if I had known there’d be other chances to kiss you,” he says.  
  
“Yes, you would have,” Alyssa replies.  
  
Dan looks back up to meet her gaze. “Yes, I would have,” he admits. His expression says that the words are bitter on his tongue.  
  
Alyssa wants to make it better, wants to give him something sweet to wash it all away. “Kiss me, Dan,” she whispers.  
  
Dan leans in; for a moment he pauses, and Alyssa thinks she hears the gears in his head stop turning. 

Then his lips are on hers. They’re soft, and warm, and gentle as every other part of him. She lets herself be swept up, reaching up to cup his cheek, feeling the smooth skin there. A break to breathe, and then another - whether this is a second kiss or a continuation of the first, Alyssa doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Dan’s kisses are full of promise; right now it doesn’t matter what those promises are. He tastes of spearmint gum and when she inhales a good lungful of him it reminds her of Washington.

It’s Alyssa who breaks away first - she has promises of her own to keep.  
  
Dan keeps his eyes closed for a moment, still leaning in. Another, another, another. When he opens his eyes, they’re bright, clear. She smiles at him. He gives her the ghost of a smile in return, nodding in thanks. 

Alyssa’s phone buzzes once again, then twice. She sighs, pulling it out of her pocket. Dan leans over and nuzzles her cheek, his nose brushing against her temple. 

Alyssa freezes. Dan freezes too, his chin resting somewhere near the top of her forehead.  
  
“Everything okay?” he asks.  
  
Alyssa looks up at him slowly, a grin appearing across her face.  
  
“Do you like apples, Dan?”  
  
Dan blinks at her. “I mean, apparently I do,” he says, shrugging. “I guess I love them.”  
  
“Well, you just became a United States Congressman,” Alyssa replies. “How do you like them apples?”

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by @fizzy_smile, who is deserving of all the apple crisp in the world.


End file.
